Ensemble
by immoral melody
Summary: As Arthas' demise looms, the draenei find themselves in a precarious situation within the Alliance. Velen and the Hand make a decision that will impact every single sub-faction of their people. Chapter Two: The Aldor learn of the news...
1. Chapter 1

[World of Warcraft and all characters used are owned by Blizzard. All non Blizzard ideas are my intellectual property and thus use of them without my express permission will result in a report of plagiarism to .]

I play World of Warcraft often [Moon Guard A] and the draenei are my favorite characters. Going over their lore and the current political situation in the Alliance due to the events of Northrend, it is noticeable that in the Alliance, the draenei are generally being ignored while in the Argent Crusade, they seem to be doing rather well. So after thinking about it for a while, I came up with a 'what if' type of idea, that turned itself into this story.

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**_Ensemble_**

_Chapter 1: Gamble_

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Life on the Exodar was proceeding as normal. The once-spaceship had been the last on the list to be repaired-housing for the general draenei population being more important. Ammen Vale, Azure Watch, and Blood Watch were now fully built, and Odeysus' Landing was turning into a very healthy port town. Now the artificers had turned their attention to the Exodar, and were descending on it in full force. Since the ship itself had slammed into (and was) sticking out of a mountain, the plan was to at least make it look as if it was _intentionally _built into the stone…as intentionally as crystal and other non-Azerothian metals could look like. So far the plan had been working, the insides no longer looked as if they'd been wrecked, debris hauled away, cracks repaired, and formerly inaccessible parts of the ship now opened. The courtyard had been widened, now the Hand had proper stabling areas for their mounts and barracks to live in.

The Vault of Lights was being renovated into a full temple-which explained all the chaotic noise outside the building in which Velen and the Triumvirate of the Hand were currently meeting. Nothing could be heard inside however, thanks to sound-proofing spells. The Prophet had a grave look on his face, thoughtfully pulling at his beard while the other draenei watched. Several maps were strewn on the table in front of the quartet, along with various open scrolls.

"The situation at Forest Song is not good then?" Velen finally asked, dropping his hand to the table and pulling one of the maps to the forefront.

"The situation in Ashenvale has never been good, Divine." Armos responded. "But from this report-yes, it seems to be getting worse. The Warsong are starting to expand even further, putting Astranaar in danger. Forest Song is relatively safe for now, but that could change at any time."

"Is there an evacuation plan for them set?"

"Given the current inroads made by the orcs, it's undergoing modification but it should be ready soon." Despite the things the draenei had heard of Thrall, the populace and the army were still very leery of the orcs. News of Garrosh's activities in Northrend and his growing influence in the Horde were making Velen and the Hand even warier-thus the current discussion. While things over the years had tempered in other border lying areas between the Horde and the Alliance, the Sentinel/Warsong conflict had only gotten worse. No amount of diplomacy could get the fighting to stop-and it had gotten to the point where it was being considered its' own separate war.

"Vindicator Vedaar is doing his best in the situation. I don't think there's anything that we can do to help." Boros rumbled softly. Velen nodded, not liking what had been said but seeing the logic in it.

"Alright. What is next?"

"The new rotations for Northrend are set." Kuros, the last of the Triumvirate said, stepping forward and setting down a packet of papers. "The number of men and women you requested that we send to the Alliance has been cut-now we're at the basic minimum needed to at least keep our relations with them going."

"If they don't notice that I don't know what will." Armos grumbled, folding his arms. "Prophet, I think a better statement would be made by having us just pull out our people _completely-_"

"While it would make the better statement, it could also backfire on us." Velen said, holding up a hand. "I still harbor hope that Varian will come out of his rage-and that we can resume negotiations. And besides from the humans-the rest of the Alliance has accepted us as allies. We cannot leave them without some sort of help."

The draenei as of late had found themselves in a precarious position in the Alliance. Advancing into Northrend with their allies, Velen and the Hand had found their attempts to help had been blocked at almost every turn. The worst situation had been Valiance Keep-but even after it'd been learned that an agent of the Lich King was behind the sabotage there, the draenei were still being stonewalled and not allowed to help. Diplomatic relations were almost at a standstill-Taluun had reported that it was almost impossible to gain an audience with Varian-unless it was discussing the war with the Horde or Arthas. The draenei were now being regarded with suspicion and mistrust once again by most humans-many draenei were now choosing to avoid Stormwind in their travels, due to the societal upheaval the king's arrival had caused. It also wasn't helping matters that Varian had assumed overall command of the Alliance forces after the infamous Wrathgate incident and had immediately re-declared war on the Horde…_**without**_ seeking the advice of his fellow Alliance leaders.

The draenei were only just getting back on their hooves. Their numbers were sorely reduced-whatever was left was split between Azeroth and Outland and it'd taken far too long to reestablish communication with Shattrath. They just barely had enough to start an active offensive (with the help of the Alliance) to reclaim what was left of Draenor, there was barely enough even now to give over to Varian for the Alliance armies. And what was in the Alliance army…had either left for the Argent Crusade, petitioning the Triumvirate to recall them back to the Exodar, or choosing to tough it out in the hopes that things would soon get better.

If things were unstable politically in the Alliance, it was far worse in the army. Velen knew due to the horrors of Northrend, he couldn't ask his people to hold out for very long. So as an informal protest due to how matters were being handled and the lack of negotiation, the Prophet had ordered the number of draenei serving in the Alliance armies to be cut to the bare minimum needed. This would give the Hand the troops they desperately needed to start shoring up the defenses about the Azuremyst island chain (the excuse that was to be offered if the Alliance noticed and complained) and the hope that Wrynn would take notice and reopen negotiations once again. Velen believed that the Alliance was truly part of the army of the Light K'ure had promised the draenei that they would be a part of so long ago…and it seemed on this planet, that promise was coming true. Another factor was the discovery of the Argent Dawn/Crusade- this had galvanized the draenei-relations were strong between it and the Hand.

_But that's a topic for a different time. _Velen thought to himself. No, right now the focus was on his people's position in the Alliance-while the Prophet didn't like what he was doing, he could see there wasn't very much in the way of options. Recalling back as many troops as they could was far preferable to having them die almost needlessly in the frozen wastes of Northrend on different battlefields. And they _did_ need to shore up the Exodar and Azuremyst's defenses as a whole… _Then it seems, I must pray every day that things take a turn for the better within the Alliance, and soon. _

They had to. Any wrong decisions after the threats in Northrend were taken care of-could spell disaster as a whole. Not for the Alliance or the Horde, but possibly for all of Azeroth.


	2. Dissonance

[Don't own anything World of Warcraft. All other ideas are mine.]

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_Dissonance_

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Despite the winter month, Shattrath bustled with activity. Vendors of the Lower City bundled up as best as they could, hawking their wares. The city guards were busy putting up the protections needed to protect Shattrath from the worst of the winter weather-awnings over the Lower City, tents for both the Aldor and Scryer armies on the Terrance of Light, and starting to assemble the rather large panels used as doors for the inner Terrance. The Aldor and Scryers were no less busy-despite it's sundering, Draenor's weather in most areas still went on its normal cycle.

This however, was lost on Ishanah, the high priestess of the Aldor. The draenei organization had a rich history-having been created by Velen to serve the naaru. However-back when Draenor had been whole, and the draenei flourishing, Shattrath had ended up becoming just a bit…_overcrowded. _To solve the need for space Velen had decided to move the majority of the priesthood to Shadowmoon Valley, building a massive temple there. Over time the Temple of Karabor had become the most sacred place to the draenei and quite literally their second capital, as it played host to the majority of the army. When Karabor had been destroyed by the orcs, it had badly crippled the draenei-at least half their priesthood and military were gone. When Shattrath was razed, the Aldor (the ones who had hidden, or dared to venture back from Zangermarsh) had done their best to try and bring back the city, but no luck. It seemed all hope had been lost…until A'dal and the other naaru had come. Until Draenor, there had always been naaru with the draenei. But as its ship passed though the Twisting Nether, K'ure's strength finally gave out. The naaru had been holding back the beginning of its death cycle for as long as it could…but in the space above Draenor, K'ure was forced to finally give up the fight. The ship plummeted to the surface, all systems disabled. To save everyone on board, the second naaru present- D'ore, sacrificed all its holy power to act as a shield. This left only one naaru- X'iri. X'iri had lived at Shattrath, but moved with Velen when the Temple of Karabor had been built. Then several millennia before the orcs attacked, X'iri left the temple-telling the draenei that he sensed the presence of other naaru, and wished to bring them to the planet. Upon returning with A'dal and learning what had happened, the naaru was said to have taken the news _**badly**_. It now personally led the Aldor and Scryer armies in Shadowmoon Valley in their fight with the Legion.

It was about Shadowmoon that Ishanah was reading a report on, leaning back casually in her seat. She was not dressed for the day as yet-wearing only a nightgown. A female attendant hovered nearby, awaiting any orders that the priestess might give. Finishing the report, Ishanah sighed and looked towards the attendant.

"Give this to Adyen." She held out the scroll. "He needs to know about th-what?" A commotion outside had her sitting up and reaching for a robe as the attendant hurried to the door and opened it.

"Ah! Sir, no, she's not dressed yet!"

"I don't care, let me in _**now**_." Came the growling voice of Adyen. As the Lightwarden, he and his troops were sworn to the protection of the Aldor priesthood-Adyen himself was Ishanah's personal bodyguard.

"I can't just let you-"

"Natayla, it's alright." Ishanah said, quickly slipping the robe around her and tying the belt. The attendant looked at her with dismay.

"My lady!"

"Let him in." The priestess ordered. With a sigh, the younger draenei obeyed, allowing the darkly-scowling Adyen entry. Without any ceremony, he strode forward and thrust a letter at Ishanah.

"Read this." He ordered.

"I see you're in a good mood." Ishanah remarked dryly as she took the paper and unfolded it. The pale draenei said nothing, but watched as the female started to read the letter. He said nothing as the priestess's eyes widened, and a gasp escaped her lips.

"How-how old is this?!"

"Three days." Adyen replied. He stepped back as Ishanah stormed into her bedroom, yelling for the attendant to follow her. "There isn't anything we can do about it, it's already done by now!"

"Do you know if anything's happened?!"

"I don't know. The minute I read it, I stopped everything and brought it right to you." Ishanah emerged from the bedroom, clad in her normal silver and teal robes. "If something had gone wrong, we probably would have known about it by now, even beforehand." Which was the truth-when contact with the Exodar had been reestablished, one of the first things that had been done was to create a portal between it and Shattrath-to be used for emergencies. Other than that, mail and transport of people and supplies were carried out by gryphon and hippogriff, or by elekk and talbuk.

"Three days old-is Khadgar available?!"

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Khadgar frowned as he looked over the letter. Nearby, General Tiras'alan and Grand Anchorite Almonen were speaking in hushed tones.

"This is…interesting." The human finally pronounced, handing the letter over to Almonen. "But to answer your question-I've only heard the same things you have regarding anything in Northrend. He frowned. "Surely wouldn't this be good news? If your leader is cutting back the amount of troops to send to the Alliance's war effort, you can get some badly needed help out here."

"The help would be appreciated, but not at the cost of desperately needed allies." Ishanah answered. "Especially considering all the help the Alliance gave us out here-"

"We gained much back yes, but then they all left." Tiras'alan countered, taking the letter from Almonen.

"But that was to be expected." Ishanah countered. "You can't say that we all didn't anticipate a loss in forces when the Lich King attacked both Stormwind and Orgrimmar."

"No, we all anticipated that. What we didn't anticipate was the loss of diplomacy." Almonen interjected. Shattrath-due to the presence of the naaru, was a powerful neutral faction in and of itself. "Priestess, surely you cannot deny that our pleas have fallen upon deaf ears, or the reports that our people send us from there. Speak for the Alliance all you like, you _**know**_ the Prophet would not do something like this unless it was _warranted._" Ishanah sighed, looking to the side.

As the aftershocks of the Wrathgate incident rippled throughout Azeroth, both Horde and Alliance had sent appeals of help to Shattrath to restart negotiations between the two factions. Thrall had been willing…but Varian had rejected the Shattrath messengers. On top of that, the Shattrath troops sent to help in Northrend had been slowly returning…their stories of what was going on shocking the Sha'tar, the Aldor, and the Scryers.

"…I know Velen would not have chosen this unless it was the only option." She finally said. "But this is dangerous-too dangerous! This-" She reached out, grabbing the letter from Tiras'alan and holding it up. "This is threatening to undo all our hard work! Whatever's done at Exodar reflects on all of us, neutral or not! Who's not going to say that the human king will take this the wrong way and order what's left of his troops here out? You know we don't have the people to pick up that slack!" The point scored its hit among the others; she saw worried glances being exchanged. The Alliance did hold several key positions that were of great value to Shattrath. The elven outpost in Terokkar, the dwarven stronghold in Shadowmoon Valley and Honor Hold in Hellfire...all were badly needed. And Ishanah was right-the city just did not have the resources to hold those areas on its own. The Horde had their own corresponding bases, but those came under the purview of the Scryers. Adding in on the Aldor's part draenei slowly leaving what remained of Draenor for Azeroth and the Exodar…

"I think…" Almonen began, slowly. "That we should start to make our own investigations into what is happening on Azeroth. And it would be wise to send the Prophet a letter asking him to possibly meet with you, Priestess-or at the most, send an explanation of just why he has done this thing." Ishanah nodded.

"That seems wise." Khadgar said. "I for my part-will conduct my own inquires. To be honest, what I have heard of the Alliance in Northrend is starting to worry me…and I believe Ishanah, you should meet with the Scryers as well." The priestess nodded.

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AN: A note on X'iri-the idea of him being present among the draenei is my own. I realize there isn't anything at all in the official lore to support this theory, but considering that there were two naaru with the draenei when they crash-landed on Draenor, I thought it wouldn't help to add in a third. I also base this theory on how the Black Temple looks-it's very large, and has extremely high ceilings. While I admit this could be gameplay mechanics, the height and sheer amount of space inside the building at certain parts suggests that it would be very easy for a naaru to move about it...just food for thought. ^^


End file.
